# The 10 tattoos that annoy me most **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 29, 2008, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-10-tattoos-that-annoy-me-most/474910 "2008-11-29T09:10:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2008, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-10-tattoos-that-annoy-me-most/474910/141 "2008-12-01T16:40:15Z")
> [@Don\_t\_fight\_the\_hypothetical](#): > > **featherlou** , I invite you to take a step back and re-evaluate your position. I understand what you are trying to say but you are sounding more sheep-like than not. I don’t really understand this - it is my considered opinion that tattoos are silly; what’s sheep-like about that? I’m expressing my individuality by not going along with a fad and by saying why I think it’s silly - where’s the sheeplike behaviour? ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2008, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-10-tattoos-that-annoy-me-most/474910/142 "2008-12-01T16:42:25Z")
> [@Punintentional](#): > > Wouldn’t abstaining from getting a tattoo because of “what people would think” be the same as getting a tattoo just so people would think you’re cool? No. There’s a difference between “wanting people to think you look cool” and “not wanting to look like a dick”. YMMV! > [@](#): > > ETA 2 : Also just adding, the tattoo is on neither Angelina or Brad. But a stranger. Holy crap. ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2008, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-10-tattoos-that-annoy-me-most/474910/143 "2008-12-01T16:44:05Z")
**Marley** : Friends don’t let friends drive (their lives according to decisions one makes typically when) drunk. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2008, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-10-tattoos-that-annoy-me-most/474910/144 "2008-12-01T16:47:41Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > I’m not at all concerned with what other people have as tattoos, but for myself, I would find it difficult to get one - not for the usual reasons (the “you’ll regret this” thing), but because I think that my tastes in the media clash with what I could realistically do. > > The ink on skin in my opinion tends to work best in large designs that emphasize whole areas of the body, and designed as a whole - that is, with a plan from the start. Too many tattoos I find to be too sketchy and fussy - perhaps inevitable, as most people start with a little one somewhere, and work up from there, adding in stuff as they go. This gives the body somewhat the look of a sketchbook, with stuff in various styles and degrees of expertise intermingled. > > [I’m also not much a fan of the small, hidden tattoo.] > > Thus, in order to really look good, I think you’d have to have a whole-body plan in mind from the start, and have the whole thing done in the same style. Which is a major undertaking, requiring lots of planning and access to an artist - which is probably pretty expensive. > > Just my aesthetic two cent’s worth. Yupp, totally agreed. Getting tattoos willy-nilly, hodge-podge style looks horrible. I’m not a fan of the ‘decal’ approach either. One or two is okay, in a discrete area, but just getting a ton plugged in here and there like a fugly potpourri. Nuh-uh. Some of the best tattoos are those that are planned out from the start, cover a major area in one style and flow with the body part –work with the area, don’t force it. You have to have the lifestyle and attitude to match, though. That isn’t gonna work very well on some soccer-mom, or most 9-to-5 cubicle jockeys. IOW, _don’t be a poser._ Also, if you’re going to do it, find a quality artist. It’s going to be expensive. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2008, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-10-tattoos-that-annoy-me-most/474910/145 "2008-12-01T16:54:18Z")
> [@cmyk](#): > > Yupp, totally agreed. Getting tattoos willy-nilly, hodge-podge style looks horrible. I’m not a fan of the ‘decal’ approach either. One or two is okay, in a discrete area, but just getting a ton plugged in here and there like a fugly potpourri. Nuh-uh. > > Some of the best tattoos are those that are planned out from the start, cover a major area in one style and flow with the body part –work with the area, don’t force it. You have to have the lifestyle and attitude to match, though. That isn’t gonna work very well on some soccer-mom, or most 9-to-5 cubicle jockeys. IOW, _don’t be a poser._ > > Also, if you’re going to do it, find a quality artist. It’s going to be expensive. Basically why I don’t have any. If I was going to do it, I’d want to do it _right_. My lifestyle at this particular point rules out doing that. Who knows, maybe I’ll be the guy who at 55, instead of regretting the tattoos of my youth, is getting the full treatment he at last has the ability (and resources) to acquire. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2008, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-10-tattoos-that-annoy-me-most/474910/146 "2008-12-01T17:03:01Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > Who knows, maybe I’ll be the guy who at 55, instead of regretting the tattoos of my youth, is getting the full treatment he at last has the ability (and resources) to acquire. 😃 Yeah, but then you’ll get all the mid-life crisis accusations! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2008, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-10-tattoos-that-annoy-me-most/474910/147 "2008-12-01T17:06:59Z")
> [@BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](#): > > Yeah, but then you’ll get all the mid-life crisis accusations! 🙂 😃 True enough. Though it would at least be more amusing than the red sports car. In any event, I’d probably not do it - I prefer looking at art to wearing it myself. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2008, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-10-tattoos-that-annoy-me-most/474910/148 "2008-12-01T17:19:06Z")
> [@PapSett](#): > > I don’t have a tattoo-yet- but am planning on getting one soon. The one I have picked out is something I designed myself and has a very personal, special meaning to me, and I know it is something I will never regret. > > I enjoy seeing other people’s tatts and hearing the whys of how they ended up with that particular design. Would I ever cover half my body with tatts? No. But each to his own! hehe Almost every single person I know who has gotten one tat, as soon as it is fully healed, begins to hunger for another. It’s like how some people hold off on having sex until marriage, love, etc. As soon as they have sex, they say “omfg, I **can’t wait** to do that again!” ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2008, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-10-tattoos-that-annoy-me-most/474910/149 "2008-12-01T17:32:58Z")
People have been inking their bodies for millennia for several reasons. I’m not sure how true it is, but it seems getting a tattoo now isn’t taken as seriously as it used to. I think that’s where Cisco is coming from. The trends in getting an ink job, in an area that shouldn’t really have any trends, per se. The sheep that fall for the gimmicks or saw something their friends got, and want to be like them. Or just love Goofy, and just _have_ to have a Goofy on their shoulder blade. It waters down the whole idea of getting a tattoo. Also, I think shows like _Miami Ink_ are partly to blame. They’ve sold out their own profession. Now everyone and their brother wants some ink to commemorate that, or mark this, or show that they’ve overcame that, or to even get a loved one’s face tattooed in photorealism. Which is fine, but it’s turned getting a tattoo, into the same thing 9/11 did for patriotism. It’s too much, too fast, and it’s burned the whole damn thing out. ---
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2008, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-10-tattoos-that-annoy-me-most/474910/150 "2008-12-01T17:49:15Z")
That’s what happens when you get too many people on the planet, I guess. But what are ya gonna do, be a sheep, or be a sheep decrying the sheep? Or. Just maybe. Know that you’re happy doing what you’re doing, despite the fact that about a billion other people are doing it too? Everything you eat, watch, make, say, do will be done by millions…and criticized by millions who think it matters that what you eat, watch, make, say or do isn’t what they’d eat, watch, make, say, or do. You unique snowflake you! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2008, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-10-tattoos-that-annoy-me-most/474910/151 "2008-12-01T17:49:41Z")
I remember when I first heard the term ‘sheeple’. I turned to my husband after reading it and said, “Let’s see how many sheep jump to start using this term.” I think it is ironic that people that go around calling others sheep don’t realize that there are huge \*flocks \*of people that think it is cool and edgy to go around calling people sheep. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2008, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-10-tattoos-that-annoy-me-most/474910/152 "2008-12-01T17:55:16Z")
> [@featherlou](#): > > Who’s using peer pressure? Not the people with the tattoos. 😉 The negativity here is all one-way, like I said. Nobody’s calling people without tattoos “sheep.” > [@](#): > > I don’t think there is anyone on this thread (or on this board) who is running their lives according to MY opinion. There isn’t, but what’s that have to do with the price of tea in China? > [@pseudotriton ruber ruber](#): > > Marley: Friends don’t let friends drive (their lives according to decisions one makes typically when) drunk. I’d ask for a cite, but I know you don’t have one. 😉 Way to stick it to the sheep by stereotyping- generalizing is what all rugged individualists do. In New York I believe it’s actually against the law to tattoo someone who’s intoxicated, and every tattoo parlor I have walked past has signs indicating they will not work on drunk people. I bet that’s not only the case in this state. Just about everybody idly considers getting a tattoo at some point, I think, and there’s never a deadline, so there is rarely a reason to hurry. That doesn’t help if they have shitty taste, and lots of people do, so there are still plenty of awful tats out there. But that’s how it goes. Most of the tattooed people I know spent a good amount of time figuring out what they wanted. I actually hurried by comparison in taking a week and a half. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2008, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-10-tattoos-that-annoy-me-most/474910/153 "2008-12-01T17:59:54Z")
Sheep are those people who don’t have enough self-awareness to look around them and see what they are doing is herd-behavior. It’s perfectly fine to follow the herd… it’s easy, after all. But, there’s nothing wrong with rejecting herd-behavior. Evar! And not every trend hits ‘sheep’ status. Even using the word ‘sheep’ – It’s a good term for what it symbolizes. ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2008, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-10-tattoos-that-annoy-me-most/474910/154 "2008-12-01T19:50:18Z")
> [@BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](#): > > This, on the other hand, makes you my new arch-nemesis. I’m sure you understand. Completely… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2008, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-10-tattoos-that-annoy-me-most/474910/155 "2008-12-01T20:35:53Z")
If I had a dime for everyone I know personally who got a tattoo while intoxicated, I’d be able to do my laundry. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2008, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-10-tattoos-that-annoy-me-most/474910/156 "2008-12-01T20:43:24Z")
> [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](#): > > If I had a dime for everyone I know personally who got a tattoo while intoxicated, I’d be able to do my laundry. Washing _and_ drying? ---
**Author:** ![Prelude\_to\_Fascination](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Prelude\_to\_Fascination](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prelude_to_Fascination)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2008, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-10-tattoos-that-annoy-me-most/474910/157 "2008-12-01T21:53:48Z")
> [@cmyk](#): > > People have been inking their bodies for millennia for several reasons. I’m not sure how true it is, but it seems getting a tattoo now isn’t taken as seriously as it used to. I think that’s where Cisco is coming from. The trends in getting an ink job, in an area that shouldn’t really have any trends, per se. > > The sheep that fall for the gimmicks or saw something their friends got, and want to be like them. Or just love Goofy, and just _have_ to have a Goofy on their shoulder blade. It waters down the whole idea of getting a tattoo. > > Also, I think shows like _Miami Ink_ are partly to blame. They’ve sold out their own profession. Now everyone and their brother wants some ink to commemorate that, or mark this, or show that they’ve overcame that, or to even get a loved one’s face tattooed in photorealism. Which is fine, but it’s turned getting a tattoo, into the same thing 9/11 did for patriotism. **It’s too much, too fast, and it’s burned the whole damn thing out.** And that’s precisely what I have against the trend. Look, as someone mentioned, tattooing has been around for thousands of years, and in virtually every culture, so it’s not going away. But the question shouldn’t be, “What are you going to think about that tattoo of Goofy on your ankle when you’re 80?” but instead, “What are you going to think about that tattoo of Goofy on your ankle when the trend wears out and the backlash against tattoos starts?” ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2008, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-10-tattoos-that-annoy-me-most/474910/158 "2008-12-01T22:12:46Z")
> [@Prelude\_to\_Fascination](#): > > But the question shouldn’t be, “What are you going to think about that tattoo of Goofy on your ankle when you’re 80?” but instead, “What are you going to think about that tattoo of Goofy on your ankle when the trend wears out and the backlash against tattoos starts?” What do you mean “when?” I think we can see here it’s alive and well- and has probably been going on for at least a couple of years. ---
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2008, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-10-tattoos-that-annoy-me-most/474910/159 "2008-12-01T22:14:30Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > What do you mean “when?” I think we can see here it’s alive and well- and has probably been going on for at least a couple [edit] **thousand** [/edit] years. Fixed that for you. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2008, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-10-tattoos-that-annoy-me-most/474910/160 "2008-12-01T22:22:12Z")
> [@Unintentionally\_Blank](#): > > Fixed that for you. 😃 That’s true too, but in terms of the modern trend that’s resulted in tattoos for half of all people under 40 (or whatever the numbers are), I think we have to pick a more recent date. 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-10-tattoos-that-annoy-me-most/474910.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-10-tattoos-that-annoy-me-most/474910.md?page=9)